Despite the two hour wait (during which Mr. U almost -but thankfully not quite- lost his patience and abandoned the heat for our air-conditioned hotel room) the trip down through Paris's underbelly to visit the neatly arranged remains of thousands up on thousands of people was well worth it. As you know, I have a special fascination with the macabre and Paris's exquisite catacombs tops the list of my favourite ossuaries. (http://www.carrieres.explographies.com/) One hundred and some steps down a very steep, circular stairwell leads to the most ornately and obsessively stacked skulls and femurs. The dark lighting and chilly, humid atmosphere combine to create a sombre and eerie effect. Flash photography is expressly forbidden so I had to content myself with high speed "digital film".
A quick shower (2 hours in the sun YUCK) and rest back at the hotel gave us enough energy to venture forth yet again in search of sustenance and perhaps a few more Parisian icons. We found ourselves at the foot of Notre Dame, admiring the Gothic architecture -flying buttresses and gargoyles from every angle both near and far. Being a beautiful, summer Sunday afternoon in August, naturally the grounds were overrun with tourists from every corner of the world. The jumble of excited words in every language imaginable was comforting in its chaos.
Palais de Justice
Notre Dame
photo: Mr. U
photo: Mr. U
Charlemagne's horse
Seeking shelter form the sunshine beating once again on our heads, we returned to the Marais to catch a closer glimpse of the Centre Pompidou and the Igor Stravinsky Fountain.
Our late lunch was pretty much as good as dinner for us but I couldn't resist one last sortie for the night. Just before the start of the London 2012 Olympics closing ceremony we scooted out for a gelato. I had chocolate and salted butterscotch and Mr. U had vanilla and pistachio. They presented the cones in a really cool way. How could I resist?!! The only problem was deciding which flavours to pick they all looked so delicious!
No comments:
Post a Comment